Pride of 2019: Katryna Veasey Notches 1,000th Career Kill
WESTON, Mass. – It took just 71 matches over two-and-a-half seasons for Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) to become the all-time kills leader in Regis women's volleyball history. She set the single-season school kills record with 346 kills in 2018, bringing a career total of 859 kills into her senior campaign.
In the second match of the 2019 season, Veasey collected 21 kills against Framingham State, a new career high. She reached 900 career kills against University of New England the next day, and then she started her pursuit of a milestone that no Regis volleyball player, male or female, had ever achieved.
In the home opener against New England College Sept. 10, Veasey led the Pride with 17 kills and seven service aces, plus she notched her third double-double of the season with a season-high 16 digs and added nine total blocks, another career high. After a tri-match Sept. 21 that included a 15-kill, 15-dig performance against Lasell, Veasey stood at 988 career kills.
The milestone watch was in full effect at Eastern Connecticut State Sept. 24, and Veasey did lead the Pride offensively, but with just 10 kills. Now at 998 career kills, she was set up to reach the magical four-digit career kill total in front of the home crowd during Regis Fest Saturday, Sept. 28.
Against University of St. Joseph, Regis took an early 6-2 lead in the first set thanks in part to two kills by Rita Dow and two service aces from Meg Adams. Veasey picked up her first kill of the match, and then the Blue Jays took a timeout after a block by Lauren Butt and Julia Pelland increase the Pride advantage to 8-2.
Pelland earned a kill, but then the Blue Jays rattled off five unanswered points to close their deficit to 9-8. Timeout Regis, and the anticipation grew.
After the timeout, USJ's Nina Lestrud served the ball to Veasey, who passed the ball to setter Emily Fagundo. Fagundo set the ball to the left pin, and Veasey spiked the ball down in front of the Blue Jay defender for career kill 1,000.
The capacity crowd went wild, and the announcement was made (thanks to the officials for slowing things down just enough). The ball was taken out of play, and then Veasey went back to serve. That kill started a 16-9 Regis scoring stretch to clinch the first set, and the Pride were on their way to a 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays.
Veasey would continue to lead the Pride offensively the rest of the season, finishing with 315 kills in 2019, the second-highest single-season total in program history, and 1,174 career kills, exactly 500 kills more than the previous career kills record established in 2010.
Earning Third Team All-GNAC recognition after the 2019 season, Veasey became a four-time All-Conference honoree, starting with New England Collegiate Conference Rookie of the Year and First Team All-NECC awards in 2016. After Regis moved to the GNAC, Veasey received Third Team All-GNAC honors in 2017 and Second Team All-GNAC recognition in 2018.
Besides leading the team in kills, Veasey also finished second on the squad with 307 digs as she notched 16 double-doubles during the year, including seven double-doubles in her last nine matches. Veasey leaves the Regis volleyball program as the leader in career kills (1,174), single season kills (346 in 2018), career kills per set (2.92), and single season kills per set (3.36 in 2018). She is also second in career digs (1,039), third in career service aces (176), tied for third in career sets played (402), tied for fourth in career matches (115), ninth in career attack percentage (.176), and 10th in career total blocks (147).
Veasey, the 2019 Female Co-Outstanding Junior Student-Athlete of the Year along with fellow Pride of 2019 honoree Elisabeth McQuaid, is currently in her second season as a member of the Pride women's basketball team, averaging 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game so far in the 2019-20 campaign.